real life

The struggle is real

I'm halfway through beta-reading KIABIL's novella. And to be frank about it, it needs a lot of work. I'm trying to be gentle about it in my notes for him, but...

This thing REALLY needs work.

I joke that I'm addicted to ellipses. Well, KIABIL freaking loves the humble comma. It's almost like every paragraph is a long and complicated sentence that is peppered with the things. But I'm only halfway through it. There could be improvement in the other half.

There's always hope.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting on my beta-readers to get back to me about Beauties and the Beastly. Thanks to me posting chapters on my Patreon I've found more minor errata than I care to count. But I still need picky readers to go through my shit and find all the mistakes.

You can see these chapters and many other things for as little as a dollar a month! Sign up now! Cough, cough. Spruik, spruik. Rattle the old tin can.

And I need to brave up and bring back self-shill Saturdays. Or self-shill Sundays. Pick a day on a weekend and just... advertise my fucking books. People won't buy what they don't know is there.

All I have is me and a $0 budget. So if you see my books being advertised anywhere, share it on your social media too. That would be a fabulous help.

It's hard to keep going when nothing great is happening for me. I just gotta keep doing it or I'll get nowhere.

Bit off more than I can chew?

So my know-it-all brother-in-law, KIABIL for short, has written his first novella. Or at least, the first one that he's ready to share.

And for a first showing, I suppose, it is pretty good. The dude has a year of writing things under his belt. Meanwhile, I'm headed for year six of writing and nobody in my family wants to look at a single page of anything I produce.

Bitter? Of fucking course I am.

But now I'm obligated to read his.

After the Keto is broken...

I can definitely feel the effects of breaking Keto. Not helped in the slightest by the fact that cake was available, yesterday.

For those of you who are interested:

More asthma
Less focus
Less energy
Seeking more carb sources like someone who's mildly addicted

I haven't been off Keto long enough for it to effect my overall emotional balance, but I bet it would. Tomorrow, I'm back on to the good stuff. Salty broth, eggs, and loads of healthy fats.

Though potentially

Feast Day

It's Mayhem's 16th birthday, today. And we're having a feast day. Which means lots of fast food for Mayhem and just about anything my little darlings want to eat during the day.

I'll be a bit more conservative, but today will definitely include cake.

And today is a cleaning day without the influence of the cleaners, because our main lady is crook, today. Which means loads of self-discipline on my part.

And I'm not arting this morning. Because I'm taking everyone around

The hurried-er I go...

...the behind-er I get.

That used to be one of Dad's phrases. I've taken it to mean that one is falling behind despite one's efforts to get ahead.

There's no scrimpings this week. Chaos needed shorts and underwears, Mayhem has a birthday this Friday, and that took care of everything I had on freaking Tuesday.

For the record, Chaos' Keto Clogs cleared, and she's no longer having trouble.

Meanwhile, I'm desperate enough to raise cash that I'm pondering what making music in

Well, shit

Or, in this case, no shit. Chaos has the Keto Clogs and convincing her to take the guaranteed-to-work Pink Drink is an uphill battle.

I'll be looking into everything I can do to help her out, today. But first...

Today's the last day we've got to talk re-enrollment for Mayhem's year eleven, and the only time slot is this morning. So I have Chaos in my trail whilst we talk proper schooling with Mayhem and the people whose job it is to

Sideways, again!

Did the story before I did my blogging. Derp.

On the plus side, this morning marks the first where I can do something that I haven't done since I began Keto. Yes, folks, I finally dipped my bread in my soup.

Of course, it's Keto-friendly coconut 'bread', and my usual cream of egg drop chicken noodle soup, but it's been so long. I love it.

Art work on shot #6 of SESP is finished, and commenced on shot #7 with barely a

Cheevs?

Made the bread. Everything about it was unexpected. It looks and tastes a lot like bran bread, which means I will need a little something-something to make it not taste like bran bread. Or at least make the brannishness be tolerable.

The loaf we have is still moist, so that's good. The cold loaf does not taste like dry cardboard, at least.

Experiments will begin either today or tomorrow. I have a feeling I could turn this "bread" into a cake-like object

...focus?

I'm just easily distractible today. I just spent half an hour educating Tumblr on why Australia even has Road Trivia. Instead of, you know, doing my job.

Writing actually requires the person doing it to drift off into lala land. The problem is, this can happen without any writing happening at all.

And today, my goal in life is to get a "What the fuck, Australia?" type tag or reblog. Because those give me life.

Aussies love laughing at unsuspecting non-Australians. It's

I'm okay!

...for limited definitions of 'okay'. The Keto Clogs have passed, all thanks to a fine product called Endura Max: Cramp and Muscle Ease. It's a magnesium-based sugar-free sports drink and, because of its overall taste and hue, I call it "The Pink Drink".

It is pink, it tastes of pink, and my brain is too uncomplicated to remember Endura Max: Cramp and Muscle Ease for very long.

What I can remember is that it is very, very good at moving things along.

Friday again?

Yesterday was Chaos' sports carnival. She wore out at roughly midday and I got to take her home, but she gave it the best try she had and that's all that matters.

Plus it was wicked hot and that always takes it out of my side of the family. Worst day to wear all black. Ouch.

I'm still weary from it and I was just walking around and filming bits of it.

Which is going to make today fun. Because it's Cleaning

Ow My Butt

I've got another episode of the Keto Clogs, which is an indicator of magnesium deficiency plus too much cheese. The ensuite has become a torture chamber for me, alas. And sitting down is literally a pain.

The good news is that the blockage is moving. The bad news is that it's moving glacially slow, and it firkin hurts.

For fellow sufferers of the Keto Clogs, magnesium definitely helps.

In other, more sanitised news, Miss Chaos is having a sports day, so today's

Beloved's Day Off

We have PLNs to go get a few things, so that means that we'll probably be out all day. Because we follow the Leyland's Tour philosophy of getting a few things.

It starts with a light cover for our bedroom ceiling, and a bin for Chaos as well as Beloved. Then we'll think of a few more things while we're out. Maybe get lunch. Maybe see a movie. Maybe pick up some vinyl...

And before we know it it's after dark and

So hard to get moving

Warm bed. Huggable beloved. Long weekend syndrome hit us all. Mayhem, of course, gets to stay home because Lurgi. He's back at school on Thursday.

Chaos, meanwhile, had a bad episode of Wanna-stay-home-itus. The cure for which is, "Suck it up, buttercup," and being sent to school anyway.

I have a chronic case of Wanna-stay-in-bed-itus. And it ain't getting better. I have an appointment this afternoon and I dearly want to be able to say I've done all my work.

Except...

What

Ekka Week

It just has to be the most messed-up week in the Australian Calendar. The Brisbane Ekka is popular, expensive, crowded, and a gigantic rip-off, but we still get public holidays to go whether we want to or not.

Brisbane gets the Wednesday off. Caboolture gets the Monday off. Which means that my little darlings are lounging about in their pajamas today, and Beloved gets to do so on Wednesday.

But I don't get days off.

You still get some lovely, fresh fiction

Menu

A 3905-post collection

The struggle is real

Bit off more than I can chew?

After the Keto is broken...

Feast Day

The hurried-er I go...

Well, shit

Sideways, again!

Cheevs?

...focus?

I'm okay!

Friday again?

Ow My Butt

Beloved's Day Off

So hard to get moving

Ekka Week